Turbo and Davic stepped through the Portal directly into the infirmary.
"Here's your compile command, Doc," Davic said, opening the duffel.
"Finally." Wayne lifted the compiler out of Davic's hands.
"You're welcome," Davic drawled. He glanced at the Mainframe compiler, which was still chugging noisily. "Glad I didn't have to try to lift that thing. What version is it, .01?"
"1.3, actually," Phong said, mildly affronted.
"Thank the User for miniaturization, then," Davic said.
"What's our situation?" Turbo asked. He lifted an eyebrow at Bob. "I assume the lockdown is complete?"
"Yes," Bob answered. "All of the medical teams are in position, too."
"Anyone hear your emergency call?" Turbo asked.
"We'll have twelve more Guardians here in three microseconds," Bob assured him. "Most of them are coming from nodes that weren't online before Daemon's infection."
"Long way out," Turbo murmured.
Wayne finished hooking up the new compiler. "Transferring—now."
Silence fell as the compilers buzzed and rattled.
"New estimate—two microseconds," Wayne sighed.
"Give me some numbers, Wayne," Turbo said quietly.
"Right now—" Wayne turned to the console. "Call it eighty-five percent."
"We're going to lose fifteen percent of the Supercomputer?" Davic's eyes went wide.
"No," Wayne corrected bleakly. "We're going to save fifteen percent of the Supercomputer."
The color drained out of Turbo's face. Davic stared, then sank to the floor.
"Perhaps you should tell Turbo about your other idea," Phong suggested.
"It's a long shot," Wayne demurred.
"We don't have any other kind, Wayne," Turbo told him.
"Unlocked, unlocked, and—unlocked." Wayne slapped Davic's shoulder. "Write protection's off."
The compiler chose that moment to beep its "finished" signal.
"Perfect timing, Doc," Davic grinned.
Turbo was already copying the patch file. He handed Bob and Davic their copies as he downloaded one onto his own icon. "Let's do it, Guardians."
Bob nodded. "Glitch!"
Bob's keytool left the Web victim and clicked back onto its Guardian's arm just as Bob finished loading the patch file. "We're out of here!" He disappeared into a Portal.
"Want a ride, boss?" Davic scooped up his copy of the patch and snapped Caen into the air.
The Prime Guardian and Davic disappeared into Caen's Portal.
The next two copies of the patch went to Mouse and Ray, who hurried off to pass it on to the waiting Mainframe medics. Dot, AndrAIa, even Frisket and little Enzo took more copies into the streets of Mainframe, where symptoms were sporadic but rising. Phong downloaded his patch, then gave Wayne a curious look as the doctor tucked one more copy under his belt, and reached for a data pad.
"Perhaps you should download your patch before you go," Phong suggested.
"The patch isn't for me," Wayne told him. "It's for Matrix."
Davic and Turbo landed in the middle of a street, and ducked a spray of wet confetti arcing out of a third-floor window. Costumed sprites and binomes danced, sang, fought, or simply ran back and forth, laughing maniacally. Explosions from random teleportation punctuated the noise of several stereos warring for primacy.
Turbo tapped Davic's arm, and pointed to himself, then down the street. He gave Davic a shove in the opposite direction, and gave him a thumbs-up.
Davic nodded, and grabbed the nearest infectee. She shrieked, and whirled into Davic's arms. She bent back over his arm with a dancer's flourish, then straightened and ran the paintbrush in her right hand down Davic's face.
Davic snorted, then spun the infected sprite around and wrapped one arm around her, pinning her arms while he pulled her icon off the neon purple wetsuit she was wearing. She squealed, and plunged in the Guardian's grip. "I'll call the pixels down on you! They're mine! All mine! Magical pixels…" she abruptly relaxed, and smiled up at Davic. "I'm so happy now. Are you happy?" Her green eyes glinted, and she yanked one arm free and wrapped it up and around Davic's neck. She pulled his head down close, and said, "You know, I could kiss you right now. Or I could kill you."
"Either way, take a number," Davic grunted. He tapped his icon with the one pinned between his fingers.
Matrix's eyes popped open with a start as the crow's nest creaked. His gun, which had slipped out of his grip as he dozed, slapped itself into his hand. The creaking movement stilled. "What do you want?" Matrix yelled, his right eye glowing red.
"To give you what you want," Wayne's voice answered. "I'm here to give you Megabyte."
Matrix stiffened, and he fired right through the floor of the crow's nest. "Stay away from me, Megabyte!" The round exploded against the wood, throwing splinters in every direction. Matrix, his aim steady despite his wild-eyed tension, scooted back as the magnetic shrapnel twisted and ate the solid wood. Beneath the gaping hole, Wayne swung and spun on the netlike remains of the starboard shrouds and ratlines. The ex-Guardian slammed into the mainmast, and swore.
"Crash your stubborn paranoid ASCII, put that cannon down!" he yelled.
Matrix growled, and fired again. The shot whistled past Wayne's ear, then plunged into the thick wood of the dock, turning one of the pilings to splinters. Matrix lay flat on his belly and dangled his arms into the empty space beneath the crow's nest. The muzzle of his gun tracked Wayne unerringly.
Wayne looked up, and his face darkened as a bright red targeting icon formed across the bridge of his nose. He let go of the ratlines with one hand.
Matrix fired.
Wayne's hand flashed in front of his face, and the bullet that had been aimed at near point-blank range glanced off Wayne's palm, then screamed toward the Data Sea. Wayne looked up at Matrix, his eyes glowing green. "I've had about enough of this." He reached up and grabbed Matrix's left wrist, then kicked free of the ruined shrouds. Matrix gasped at the sudden weight, and Wayne used the moment of distraction to grab the still-smoking gun and twist it out of the Guardian's free hand. He shoved the bucking weapon under his belt, and glared into Matrix's wide eyes. "Pull me up. We need to talk."
Matrix obeyed.